President Joe Biden has signed a bill sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar in response to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection after the Minnesota Democrat helped lead a bipartisan report on the attack.
Sen. Klobuchar's Capitol Police bill for emergency help becomes law
Congress passed the legislation nearly a year after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
December 25, 2021 at 7:28PM
The legislation allows the Capitol Police chief to ask for help from federal law enforcement or the D.C. National Guard in emergencies without needing signoff from the Capitol Police Board.
"January 6th showed us that every minute counts during an emergency," Klobuchar said in a statement. "Our report found that Capitol Police officers and their law enforcement partners were left alone to defend the Capitol and our democracy itself from violent insurrectionists while the chief of the Capitol Police was delayed in obtaining approval to request help from the National Guard."
The aftermath of Jan. 6 continues to face partisan tensions on Capitol Hill. But Klobuchar's legislation passed unanimously in the Senate before moving quickly out of the House. Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, the ranking Republican on the Klobuchar-led Senate Rules Committee, was also a major champion of the legislation.
"I have long been concerned that the structure of the Capitol Police Board creates unnecessary delays when swift, decisive action is needed," Blunt said in a statement. "This bipartisan bill addresses a major security challenge that was evident on January 6th and is part of our ongoing effort to strengthen Capitol security moving forward."
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